New year begins with release of new high-yield yam variety in Nigeria
25 January 2024
IITA–CGIAR, in collaboration with the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), has released a new yam variety, UMUDr36 (IITA breeding ID: TDr1302100) for farmers in Nigeria, with the commercial name ‘SharpSharp’.
The announcement was made at the 33rd Meeting of the National Committee on Naming, Registration, and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breed/Fisheries held in Ibadan on 11 January 2024.
UMUDr36-SharpSharp is a White Guinea yam (D. rotundata) variety. The new varieties originated from IITA and were released to farmers through NRCRI, Umudike. The UMUDr36-SharpSharp was released because of its remarkable attributes: early maturity, high yield, high flour production, and good boiling and pounding capabilities.
In yams, drought stress in the late growing season impacts yield significantly, so introducing early-maturing varieties is expected to help stabilize farmers’ income. The noteworthy point of the new variety is its high potential yield of 33 t/ha, despite its earlier maturity period of 180-210 days compared to the varieties released last year (UMUDr33 and UMUDr34) with a maturity period of 230-270 days in Nigeria.
As farmers introduce early-maturity varieties, they can expect to implement yam production that is less susceptible to drought stress in the late growing season. The variety possesses some morphological characteristics, such as a green cordate leaf, vigorous and cylindrical tuber, intermediate tuber skin, and creamy white tuber flesh without oxidization. The following nutrients were identified as present in the variety: protein (1.44%), fat (0.29%), crude fiber (2.02%), amylose (31.29%), sugar (4.1%), phytate (1.44%), and CHO (88.2%).
Since 2011, IITA has been developing yam varieties with consumer and farmer preferences, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF-Japan). The variety released this time is one of the achievements made in the activities carried out by IITA, with the support of MAFF-Japan. The newly registered variety was developed and selected with the cooperation of the AfricaYam and RTB breeding projects supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through IITA-CGIAR, in addition to the MAFF-Japan project.
The next steps include rapidly producing breeder and foundation seed stock so commercial farmers can access this new variety. Yam teams at IITA and NRCRI are not resting on generating planting material for recently released varieties, including this new variety, to deliver to the yam community in Nigeria.
Contributed by Ryo Matsumoto
